Committee Funding

Floor Speech

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I, too, would like to continue this approach for the 113th and future Congresses. It serves the interest of the Senate and the public by helping to retain core committee staff with institutional knowledge, regardless of which party is in the majority. We made a transition in the last Congress to restore special reserves to its historic purpose, but appropriations cuts prevented special reserves from being funded. To the extent possible, we should try to fund special reserves in order to be able to assist committees that face urgent, unanticipated, nonrecurring needs. We know that we will continue to face tight budgets for the foreseeable future, and we have to bring funding authorizations more in line with our actual resources while ensuring that committees e able to fulfill their responsibilities. I look forward to continuing to work with my friend the majority leader to accomplish this.